Derek Tsang

Derek Tsang

Born: November 8, 1979
in Hong Kong
Derek Tsang Kwok-Cheung (曾國祥; born 8 November 1979) is a Hong Kong film director and actor. The son of actor Eric Tsang, Tsang got his start in the Hong Kong film industry working for director Peter Chan Ho-Sun after graduating from the University of Toronto Scarborough in 2001. He made his acting debut in Men Suddenly in Black (2003) and directorial debut with Lover's Discourse (2010), sharing the directing credit with Jimmy Wan Chi-man. The duo was nominated for a Golden Horse Award for Best New Director in 2010.

His solo directorial debut Soul Mate (2016) was critically praised, receiving a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film nomination at the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards. His next film Better Days (2019) was the Hong Kong submission for the Academy Awards and received a Best International Feature Film nomination, becoming the first Hong Kong submission directed by a Hong Kong native to do so.

After graduation, he moved back to Hong Kong, where his father arranged for him to work under director Peter Chan Ho-Sun. There, he met producer Jojo Hui and director Jimmy Wan Chi-man, both of whom would go on to be Tsang's frequent collaborators.

Despite not pursuing an acting career, Tsang has had a variety of acting roles since the start of his career, which he attributed to other actors not wanting to be typecast into roles with unflattering characteristics. He made his screen debut in Men Suddenly in Black (2003), cameoing as the younger version of his father's character. There he met director Pang Ho-cheung, whom Tsang would later collaborate with on various projects.

Tsang made his solo directorial debut with Soul Mate (2016). He was subsequently nominated for Best Director awards at various film award ceremonies, including at the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards and the 53rd Golden Horse Awards.

His next film, Better Days (2019), won eight out of 12 categories at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film and Best Director. The film was subsequently chosen as the official entry for Hong Kong for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. It was shortlisted but lost to Denmark's Another Round. He was the first native Hong Kong director in the category.

Tsang said his influences are primarily derived from art-house cinema, with early influences from director Wong Kar-wai and the French New Wave, as opposed to his father Eric Tsang's works, which consisted of mostly of mainstream comedies. He credits his half-sister Bowie Tsang for teaching him about film and literature.

Tsang married actress Venus Wong in 2019. He has expressed a reluctance to cast Wong due to the negative perception of nepotism.

Movies for Derek Tsang...

Stoma
Title: Stoma
Character: Lim's Brother
Released: August 19, 2020
Type: Movie
The film follows an emotionally harrowing journey endured by young gay photographer Alex, after he is diagnosed with peritoneal cancer. Abandoned by his brother and his on-again, off-again lover, Alex is forced to face his mortality and the loss of his sexual identity through sheer resilience. A devastating, but ultimately hopeful story of survival and resolve.
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Missbehavior
Title: Missbehavior
Released: January 31, 2019
Type: Movie
Revolves around a group of individuals who are all connected by a lost bottle of breast milk.
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The Brink
Title: The Brink
Character: Sheng
Released: November 23, 2017
Type: Movie
Reckless police inspector Sai Gau (Zhang Jin) is on a mission to crack down on criminal Shing's (Shawn Yue) gold smuggling scheme, yet fails to arrest him. As Sai Gau continues his manhunt, he discovers Shing's involvement with triad boss Blackie (Yasuaki Kurata), who hides on a casino cruise ship on the high seas. Shing has been involved in a power struggle within the smuggling ring, and is forced to kill his adopted father. He also loses his share of gold smuggling to Blackie. To get even, Shing appears on the cruise, while Sai Gau is there to hunt for him.
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Love Off the Cuff
Title: Love Off the Cuff
Character: Cherie's Younger Brother
Released: April 27, 2017
Type: Movie
Shawn Yue and Miriam Yeung reprise their popular roles as a star-crossed couple who strive to stay together happily ever after, only to find their already precarious relationship further strained, when Jimmy’s childhood friend asks him to donate sperm, and Cherie is troubled by the re-marriage of her father.
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S Storm
Title: S Storm
Character: Joe Ma
Released: September 14, 2016
Type: Movie
A suspect is killed while the ICAC team is investigating illegal soccer gambling in Hong Kong.
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Robbery
Title: Robbery
Character: Lau Kin-Ping
Released: April 14, 2016
Type: Movie
An anarcho-absurdist blood-soaked grand guignol indie flick with attitude to burn, this is the pitch perfect youth movie from Hong Kong. A twenty-something punk fancies himself a total player, but the best job he can find is overnight clerk at a convenience store. The other clerk is a cute chick and you’re thinking “rom com,” but then there’s a robbery, a gangster, a shoot-out, and by the time a neighbor is pulling out a homemade bomb, you realize that this violent farce is all about the current situation in Hong Kong where nothing makes sense, the heartless wipe their feet on the hopeless, and you might as well burn it all down because there are no more better tomorrows.
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From Vegas to Macau III
Title: From Vegas to Macau III
Character: Interpol
Released: February 6, 2016
Type: Movie
A gambler is targeted for murder during the wedding of his daughter to his protege.
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House of Wolves
Title: House of Wolves
Character: Steve Shit
Released: January 21, 2016
Type: Movie
Set in old rural district, Charlie pretends to be an ALS patient so he can gain sympathy from others. He runs a charity organization where he secretly carries out all sorts of nasty business. The village chief Fung Yan-bing is a dishonest man who likes to test others with money and take advantage of them. Along comes a beautiful woman named Yu Zan, a materialistic lady who loves money more than anything. However, the woman is carrying the baby of her ex-boyfriend who is a well-known tycoon's heir. The arrival of the baby will soon change the mentalities and nature of the three problematic human beings
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Lazy Hazy Crazy
Title: Lazy Hazy Crazy
Character: Madame Glaze
Released: October 29, 2015
Type: Movie
Childhood friends Tracy, Chloe and Alice share an apartment over the summer. They live close together, meet guys and sell their company as well as sex. With a romantic imagery and sometimes provocative theme the female debutant director Luk Yee-sum give the audience a playful story about sexuality, desire and friendship.
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Title: The Challenge
Released: November 19, 2014
Type: TV
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Two for the Night
Title: Two for the Night
Released: November 11, 2014
Type: Movie
Award winning scriptwriter and director Ivy Ho returns with this Hong Kong crime story. A sexually motivated abduction leads to a car crash that brings together the lives of police officers, criminals and innocent members of the public on an eerily empty Hong Kong night. Rising star Derek Tsang leads an ensemble cast in a film that proves top-notch, noir tinged contemporary crime drama emanates from lands beyond Scandinavia.
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Zombie Fight Club
Title: Zombie Fight Club
Character: David
Released: October 23, 2014
Type: Movie
It's the end of the century at a corner of the city in a building riddled with crime - Everyone in the building has turned into zombies. After Jenny's boyfriend is killed in a zombie attack, she faces the challenge of surviving in the face of adversity. In order to stay alive, she struggles with Andy to flee danger.
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Z  Storm
Title: Z Storm
Character: Joe Ma
Released: June 19, 2014
Type: Movie
ICAC principal investigator William Luk takes his job seriously, and he needs every last scintilla of support from his team to take on the powerful and cunning Supt Wong, who is corrupt to the core. Wong is an enthusiastic tool of the monstrous Malcolm Wu, a cowboy big-time share trader who will stop at nothing to secure a large slice of the upcoming float of the HK government pension fund, worth billions.
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Aberdeen
Title: Aberdeen
Released: May 8, 2014
Type: Movie
The extended Cheng family, which, like Aberdeen harbor’s Chinese namesake, represents today’s Little Hong Kong and its myriad of contradictions between traditions and modernity; superstitions and materialism; family and individuality.
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Naked Ambition 3D
Title: Naked Ambition 3D
Character: Simon Yuen
Released: March 25, 2014
Type: Movie
An honors graduate in literature, Wyman is stuck writing cheap erotic fiction, but somehow ends up starring in an AV film. Suddenly a porn superstar in Japan, he discovers a whole new world fraught with pleasure, pain and more twists and turns than he or the audience expects.
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SDU: Sex Duties Unit
Title: SDU: Sex Duties Unit
Character: Dried Shrimp
Released: July 25, 2013
Type: Movie
The Special Duties Unit (SDU) is an elite paramilitary tactical unit of the Hong Kong Police Force and is considered one of the world's finest in its role. But being the best carries its own burdens. Like everyone else, they go through troubles with love, with family and with their jobs. And sometimes they get horny. This touching story is about Special Duties Unit Team B and their trip to Macau for a weekend of unadulterated debauchery.
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My Sassy Hubby
Title: My Sassy Hubby
Character: Robber
Released: December 5, 2012
Type: Movie
My Sassy Husband follows Yoyo Ma and Thirteen Cheung’s union 10 years later to present day where they are experiencing marital problems. After they realize that their wedding ceremony held in London is not considered official in Hong Kong, they decide to part ways in search of their real love. While Yoyo and Thirteen both start dating new prospects, will they end up back together?
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Triad
Title: Triad
Character: Xiang
Released: November 15, 2012
Type: Movie
Three childhood friends join the Hong Kong Triads only to discover that fame and fortune will ultimately break them apart as only one can become the leader of the gang.
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The Thieves
Title: The Thieves
Character: Johnny
Released: July 25, 2012
Type: Movie
A gang of South Korean thieves team up with a Hong Kong crew to steal a diamond necklace from a heavily-guarded casino safe in Macau. As the cops close in, old betrayals — and misunderstandings — resurface.
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Love in the Buff
Title: Love in the Buff
Character: Cherie's Brother
Released: March 29, 2012
Type: Movie
When old flames reunite, will it be second time's the charm or a case of once bitten twice shy? Jimmy and Cherie, two ex-lovers from Hong Kong, cross paths in Beijing and can't seem to forget each other, despite being involved with someone else. Torn between fidelity towards their new partners or following their hearts, they explore the struggles, doubts and fears that exist among modern young couples.
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Girl$
Title: Girl$
Character: Chun
Released: September 2, 2010
Type: Movie
Four young women are tempted by the money that can be earned in prostitution. They have to learn in their own way that nothing comes without a price.
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Ex
Title: Ex
Character: Sol
Released: June 3, 2010
Type: Movie
Zhou Yi is about to leave on holiday with her boyfriend Woody, until an argument makes Zhou Yi to dump him at the airport. Their breakup is being witnessed by her ex-boyfriend.
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Once a Gangster
Title: Once a Gangster
Character: Young Roast Pork
Released: May 20, 2010
Type: Movie
Roast Pork joins the triad as a young man and ends up becoming a trusted lieutenant of boss Kerosene. However, his true passion is in his successful chain of restaurants, his loving wife, and his two children. So when Kerosene wants to promote his trusted right hand man to the top of the organization as a way to take on his financial debts, it's understandable why Roast Pork would want to refuse. Roast Pork comes up with an intricate scheme with his men that would take himself out of the running, but Kerosene's intervention causes it to fail. When all hopes appears to be lost, lifelong gangster Sparrow is released from jail after serving a 20-year sentence for committing a gang-related murder that earned him a guarantee for the leader spot. However, Sparrow has made his own plans to stay out of the gang, setting off a battle of wits between the two men.
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Dream Home
Title: Dream Home
Character: Cheung Jai
Released: April 25, 2010
Type: Movie
A woman will go to whatever lengths necessary to obtain her dream home with a view of the sea. This includes driving down the property value and decreasing the occupancy rate by killing her potential neighbors.
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Claustrophobia
Title: Claustrophobia
Character: John
Released: October 23, 2008
Type: Movie
Pearl has quietly fallen in love with her boss Tom, who’s married with a family. Without warning, Tom asks Pearl to interview for another job. Wounded, Pearl demands that Tom terminate her. The gauntlet has been thrown down. In a space as small, crowded and claustrophobic as the office, love doesn’t grow - it incubates and breeds, like a virus.
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Ocean Flame
Title: Ocean Flame
Character: Third Brother's assistant
Released: May 23, 2008
Type: Movie
A turbulent love affair between a punk and a youthful waitress.
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Tactical Unit - No Way Out
Title: Tactical Unit - No Way Out
Character: Fai
Released: May 1, 2008
Type: Movie
After a late-night triad dispute leads to the death of an innocent civilian, PTU officers take action by investigating triad activities in the area.
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Run Papa Run
Title: Run Papa Run
Character: Chicken
Released: April 10, 2008
Type: Movie
A lawyer falls in love with a gang boss, gets knocked up and drags him to the altar. One evening, cradling the crying infant, he metamorphoses into a doting daddy, and henceforth devotes his life to keeping her from finding out his true identity. His light and joy grows into a teenager, and alas, falls for the son of a cop, while rival gangs move in on his turf.
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Scare 2 Die
Title: Scare 2 Die
Released: April 3, 2008
Type: Movie
Down-on-his-luck gambler Kan Au (Sam Lee) owes a big sum of money, and needs to go on a winning streak soon or the loan sharks will take the interest from his hide. Luckily, Kan finds a blessed coin that allows him to draws the unbeatable "13 Unique Wonders" hand of mahjong on 13 consecutive nights, which should be enough for him to pay his debts. The problem: every time he uses the coin to win,somebody dies a gruesome, gory death. Meanwhile, fetching Luk Wing (Elanne Kwong) wakes up one morning to discover her family being eaten! Everyone around her has become a zombie, and Wing has to pick up an axe and fight back, or her heart will be come lunch for the living dead.
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Dead Air
Title: Dead Air
Character: Rock/Lok Chun
Released: November 4, 2007
Type: Movie
Rock, the director of a TV program about the supernatural, firmly believes in ghosts. He desperately wants to meet a real one, but little does he realise the consequences this will bring. Desperate to increase the viewership of his show, Rock meets Tincy, who is actually a female ghost. Together they develop a new program called Life or Death which becomes a big success. But soon Rock uncovers the conspiracy behind Tincy's death, and is framed for her murder. With his only possible saviour stuck in a performance, Rock only has one hour left to save his life.
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Single Blog
Title: Single Blog
Released: May 31, 2007
Type: Movie
Sex or love, which is more important? There are three female flat mates: Vivian is frivolous, Kitty is prim and proper, and Mei Wah is ditsy. Through new experiences of love and sex, they find themselves. Three women, with three different love and sex experiences, tell us that sex and love cannot be separated. Women talk always makes you lose in thought.
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My Name Is Fame
Title: My Name Is Fame
Character: Lok
Released: September 1, 2006
Type: Movie
Fai, a talented actor who has won the Best New Artist of the Hong Kong Film Awards and always plays leading roles in television, is an arrogant guy who does not cherish the opportunities given to him. As he keeps on criticizing his co-workers, his career and popularity gradually deteriorates. He is not offered leading roles anymore and has to take the parts of villains and rapists. Finally, he has even lost his job at the TV station. Fai becomes extremely depressed, but a twist of fate makes him become an agent for extras. As Fai gives pointers to a young girl named Fei, who truly loves acting, he regains his own enthusiasm towards acting and life.
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On the Edge
Title: On the Edge
Character: Mini B
Released: August 31, 2006
Type: Movie
After working as an undercover in a triad for 8 years, Sheng finally arrests the triad leader and resumes his duties as a police officer. However, life does not return to normal as he is faced with suspicions colleagues and even trailed by the investigations team. One day, he meets some triad members whom he has earlier befriended as an undercover agent and is forced into a corner when asked to collaborate with them once again.
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Midnight Running
Title: Midnight Running
Character: Peter
Released: May 18, 2006
Type: Movie
Kaoru has Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP), and is not allowed to be exposed to sunlight. She sleeps during the day and is active at night. She busks every night in front of a station playing guitar. Outside her bedroom window, she spots a high school boy with a surfboard. She watches him and his friends visit the ocean every morning, before going to sleep. One day, she introduces herself to him without letting him know about her illness. He is Kji Fujishiro (Takashi Tsukamoto) When her cousin drags her home, they sit by her window while they watch Kji meet his friends. Kaoru explains everything, and her cousin notes that she probably goes to the same school as him, and offers to spy on him for her.
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The Third Eye
Title: The Third Eye
Character: Gum
Released: April 8, 2006
Type: Movie
Zhang Liang is a young man who does not engage into any proper work. His secret hobby is to play with all kinds of high-tech candid technology, especially the candid photographs. He falls madly in love with a young air-stewardess. Liang brings his full equipment all the way to stay in a vacation house. Secretly he installs pinhole video cameras in the stewardess's room as well as other tenants. Through these Liang disvovers people's secrets. He does not notice he will become the lead instead of a bystander...
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Isabella
Title: Isabella
Character: Fai
Released: April 6, 2006
Type: Movie
A Macao police officer's bachelor life is interrupted by the daughter he never knew he fathered.
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Cocktail
Title: Cocktail
Character: Kuen
Released: January 19, 2006
Type: Movie
The melancholy Candy runs the Half Mortal, a trendy bar in Hong Kong. She hires Paul; Stella, a part-time employee who's a college student in psychology, trains him. He has a gift for mixing the perfect drink to fit each customer's emotional needs. His own emotions, however, are complex: his father, an alcoholic, has died recently; he's abandoned his studies; and, although he's likes Stella, he's a tyro with women and inarticulate with her. Is alcohol the key to happiness, as Paul wonders; does it simply change peoples' personality, as Stella thinks; or, is it just there, as Candy's business sense tells her? Can Paul and Stella blend into something smooth?
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AV
Title: AV
Character: Band-Aid
Released: March 19, 2005
Type: Movie
The story of four soon-to-be-college grads who are about to embark on the big adventure known as life. The foursome concoct an elaborate plan to hire a Japanese porn actress (or "AV Girl") for a fake film. Then they'll have sex with her. What could go wrong?
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It Had To Be You
Title: It Had To Be You
Released: March 4, 2005
Type: Movie
Restaurant supervisor Jill (Karena Lam) has a handsome boyfriend Chi On (Wu Bing), but she is just his backup girlfriend. She knows she is the other girl, but her hope for being his one and only has never ceased until he changes his formal girlfriend once again. All her anger goes to her co-worker Jack (Ekin Cheng), who appears to be a womanizer but indeed shares a similar unfortunate romantic situation of being the backup boyfriend of an airhostess. Knowing that both are victims in romantic relationships, Jack and Jill no longer spar with each other and a liking between them start to develop
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The Eye 2
Title: The Eye 2
Character: Joey's Co-worker
Released: March 18, 2004
Type: Movie
Pregnant Joey teeters on the brink of madness after several fruitless suicide attempts. She's the unwilling recipient of an influx of shadowy images that haunt her pervasively. In an attempt to quell this disturbing phenomenon, she looks up with her secretive ex-lover Sam, who may be able to shed some light upon the mysterious twilight world descending upon Joey.
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The Park
Title: The Park
Character: Dan
Released: October 23, 2003
Type: Movie
An amusement park reopens after a deadly accident fourteen years prior. But although the park is back in business, that doesn't mean it's safe, and when a young boy goes missing, a group of his friends set out to find him.
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Men Suddenly in Black
Title: Men Suddenly in Black
Character: Young Tin Yau
Released: August 11, 2003
Type: Movie
Four men attempt to fool around as much as they can before their wives return from a 14-hour Buddhism trip to Thailand.
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Shadow
Title: Shadow
Released: November 24, 2001
Type: Movie
Lun decides to get back in touch with his former high school flame Siu-Yuet , but finds out that she is dead and that he unintentionally caused her suicide. Siu-Yuet's ghost appears demanding retribution, and Lun and his friends are forced to carry out a number of tasks to placate the girl's vengeful spirit. A ghostly romance with several twists follows.
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The Strangled Truth
Title: The Strangled Truth
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: Movie
Two policemen, intent on their dangerous mission to uncover the truth at all costs. Putting into question the price of their friendship.